Logos Pathos Ethos, November 2017

Welcome to the new readers who have subscribed
to this monthly newsletter following the World Conference of the Professional
Speechwriters’ Association in Washington DC from 16 to 18 October.

Each conference is different from the
previous ones but the inspiration and motivation you get remain as high, from
the keynote address to conversations with peers, new tips and insights on
storytelling, voice, and ‘the nuclear bomb of rhetoric’ (ie metaphors, for
better or for worse), professional advice from the most experienced and
talented colleagues, to exchange with the laureates of the Cicero Speechwriting
Awards.

There are more and more European
speechwriters attending this gathering. That they attend this professional
conference is a good omen for the future of European speeches.

I was invited to deliver the «state of speeches
in Europe in 2017» speech. Looking back at the ones delivered over the last
twelve months, our speeches are getting more and more to the heart of the matter :

Who are we ?

What are our values ?

What do we want to build together ?

The best lines delivered last month confirm
this trend to existential questions: just look at the selection on:logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle

It starts with a fair assessment:

Over the last years managing all these crises, we've been excessively pragmatic in communicating about them. Trying to convince people with PowerPoint presentations and graphics, saying: "We're doing better than you think... Yes, you might feel like that, but here are the numbers." And we've lost many people because of that.

Britain's
referendum campaign was full of false arguments and unacceptable
generalisations. But it would have been a big mistake to interpret the negative
result exclusively as a symptom of British exceptionalism and Euroscepticism,
because all over Europe, even moderate voters were asking "Is the European
Union the answer to problems of instability and insecurity, or is it now
standing in the way?"

In Europe, after the Second World
War, then after the end of dictatorships in Spain, Portugal and Greece, and
again after the fall of the Berlin Wall, we have shaped our democratic
societies on the basis of three principles: democracy, respect for the rule of
law, and human rights. The three need each other. They cannot exclude each
other. You cannot use one against the other. If you remove one pillar, then the
others will fall too.

Respect for the rule of law is not
optional: it is fundamental. If the law does not give you what you want, you
can oppose the law, you can work to change the law, but you cannot ignore the
law.

In many parts of our world, people feel
that they are surrounded by lies, manipulation and fake news. But I deeply
believe that truth is invincible. And that this ceremony is also an expression
of this invincibility.

Even the most successful system is never self
sustaining and never invulnerable. After centuries of democracy, centuries of
autocracy can follow. If you are not vigilant, do not adapt to new
circumstances,

So, yes, we are seeing some sun break
through — but it is not a clear sky. There are two ways to approach a moment
like this. The first is to sit back, enjoy the progress, and wait for the next
crisis before making big changes. As a former finance minister, I understand
the appeal of this path. Championing change just when things are getting back
on track is not easy — especially when the benefits come further down the road
and policymakers already feel reform fatigue.

Today, we celebrate the Day of
German Unity – as we do every year. We have good reason to celebrate the 3
October, the day when East and West Germany again became one.

Yet, this year, something is different
(…) Many (…) feel doubt, worry and insecurity when they look at internal
cohesion in our country. That’s one aspect we should focus on today. It’s an
undercurrent that can clearly be felt this year.

Thirteen years ago, on this campus,
a young man invented a social media platform that would connect the world. But
the next Mark Zuckerberg need not come from Harvard. With the right investments
in education, she can come from the
south side of Chicago, or Sri Lanka, or Senegal.

Here is the question: Can the world
seize the opportunity of the upswing to secure the recovery and create a more
inclusive economy that works for all?

Fortunately, I came to the Kennedy
School — and have found some inspiration from your namesake. Addressing
Congress in 1962, about a year after the United States emerged from a
recession, President Kennedy said: “Pleasant as
it may be to bask in the warmth of recovery… the time to repair the roof is
when the sun is shining.”